Egyptian mythology in popular culture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The rich mythology of ancient Egypt has long been a fertile source of inspiration for popular culture.
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[edit] The Mummy
The title character in the 1932 Universal horror film The Mummy is the reanimated Prince Imhotep, who uses the alias Ardath Bey (an anagram of 'Death by Ra').
The 1999 version of The Mummy, its sequel The Mummy Returns, and the spinoff film The Scorpion King delve deeper into the mystical aspects of Egyptian mythology than the original version did.
In the animated television series The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, in the episode That's My Mummy, Irwin's father revealed that Irwin's mother is actually a mummy. He said that they "have managed to make it work all these years, leaving a whole lot of questions that don't need to be answered." Before Billy could finish his question "But how did you...", Irwin's father interrupts, repeating "leaving a whole lot of questions that don't need to be answered".
[edit] Comic books
- The Fawcett Comics (now published by DC Comics) supervillain Black Adam derives his powers, which he obtained during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II, from various Egyptian deities.
- Another Captain Marvel-related character, Isis, first appeared on The Secret of Isis, a live-action Saturday morning television show from the 1970s.
- Two incarnations of the Charlton Comics (now DC Comics) superhero Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett and Jaime Reyes) derive their powers from a mystical scarab artifact.
- The Marvel Comics supervillain Apocalypse traces his origins back to ancient Egypt, and has been associated with the god Seth.
- Seth himself has appeared in Marvel Comics as a foe of Thor and the other Asgardians.
- A 2002 Image Comics story thrust Isis into 21st-century Los Angeles as a superheroine.
[edit] Stargate
The 1994 science fiction film Stargate was based around the premise that the god Ra was in fact an alien being from the planet Abydos, who served as the film's villain.
The spinoff television series Stargate SG-1 has expanded this fictional universe by establishing that all of the Egyptian gods were members of Ra's race, the parasitic Goa'uld. Evil fictional versions of such deities as Hathor are among the recurring villains of the series.
[edit] Miscellaneous
- The rock band Journey is known for incorporating scarab imagery into its album covers.
- In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Staff of Ra is one of the artifacts Indiana Jones must recover in order to find the biblical Ark of the Covenant.
- The Simpsons episode "Lost Our Lisa" involves a museum exhibit entitled "Treasures of Isis", which houses the fictional Orb of Isis.
- In another Simpsons episode, "Treehouse of Horror XV", the segment "Four Beheadings and a Funeral" involves the equally fictional Seven Swords of Osiris.
- On Batman: The Animated Series, Selina Kyle had a cat named Isis.
- The short-lived animated series Mummies Alive! occasionally featured Egyptian gods as characters.
- The late rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard sometimes referred to himself as Osiris.
- The Yu-Gi-Oh! game/anime/manga series is rife with references to ancient Egypt and its mythology.
- A segment in The Animatrix is titled "Final Flight of the Osiris". The Osiris is actually the name of a Zion ship.
